Autopsy Shows Foster Girl Serenity Gandara Died of Blunt-force Trauma

The medical examiner has reported that Bakersfield foster child Serenity Gandara, a 3-year-old girl living in the home of relatives, was found dead on the living room floor of the home. Blunt-force trauma injuries are the cause of death. The foster parents, Albert and Carla Garcia, are being sought by the government for murder and felony abandonment.

Grandmothers Maria Garcia and Renee Maese both state that other relatives wanted to care for Serenity and her abandoned brother Isaiah. Isaiah is still alive, but was found with injuries appearing to demonstrate a pattern of ongoing physical child abuse. Kern County CPS refused to place the kids with other relatives, preferring to leave them with Albert and Carla Garcia despite child abuse complaints by Maria Garcia.

After Maria Garcia complained to the CPS social worker that they ignored her reports, CPS took away another child in her care apparently as retaliation. The child was returned after local media started asking questions. It is common for CPS agencies in the United States to use children as pawns to punish those who question their actions.
Grandmother Renee Maese also express dismay with the negligence of Kern County CPS:

“The system failed; the system failed. You can’t go back and change things. All I can say is that I hope in the future they would look into who they would get for foster parents, and this tragedy would never happen to somebody else’s family,” said Maese.

Below is a video showing excerpts from the July 23, 2010, funeral for Serenity Gandara at Greenlawn Mortuary on River Boulevard in Bakersfield, California.